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ask

By askSociety & Culture
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ask episodes

  • Katelin Holloway with Mikel Ellcessor

    Katelin is passionate about helping founders build scalable, diverse, and inclusive cultures. First introduced to the notion of intentional cultural development at Pixar Animation Studios, she studied alongside some of the most brilliant creative business minds of this generation. From there, she spent a decade building teams as a senior executive at some of the internet’s most influential startups, including Klout and Reddit. In early 2020, Katelin made the leap from operator to investor, supporting a new generation of leaders. Through the course of her career, the one common denominator remains: enabling people through belonging to create beautiful, innovative products that move the world.

    Katelin is currently a Founding Partner at Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, where she invests in people-first companies and manages the firm’s programs, including the 2% Growth & Caregiving Commitment and Operator in Residence Program. She is deeply committed to helping founders and the broader venture ecosystem evolve their diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging practices, creating new opportunities and access to wealth for people and products typically underrepresented in the tech industry. As an investor, she is passionate about supporting the companies that will shape the future of work, life, sustainability, and the delicate balance that enables us to thrive.

    ask is made by @shanemac @mikelellcessor & Paul Chuffo at Joyride Media

    Key Seven Seven Six Initiatives referenced in the show:

    • 2% Growth & Caregiving Commitment: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sevensevensix_at-the-early-stage-founders-are-their-startups-activity-6733061139955011584-tZzB
    • Operator in Residence Program: https://www.sevensevensix.com/news/announcing-our-2021-operators-in-residence
    • Twitter thread from @Intentionaut: https://twitter.com/Intentionaut/status/1386746223709806593?s=20
      • 48 min
    • Chris Ruder with Shane Mac

      Spikeball CEO Chris Ruder is NOT the quick-hit, hockey stick growth guy. That said, Spikeball just crossed $100m in total revenue, so... In this episode of ask, Chris shares his thoughts about starting a business without risking it all. While building Spikeball, he kept his corporate job for over 5 years and we sit down to discuss the conversations with his wife and brother which led to him going full-time. It's a story of quiet confidence, patience, persistence, and is a powerful example of a less risky way to start a business.

      41 min
    • Tina Essmaker With Mikel Ellcessor

      ✨Special Guest: Coach, writer (@99u, @WnotW), and speaker Tina Essmaker


      🗣️Talking Points:

      - How Tina reimagined her career path

      - Coaching creatives to "the other side" of professional and personal transitions

      - Giving permission to acknowledge our personal limits and avoiding burn-out


      Follow Tina: @tinaessmaker

      28 min
    • David Marquet with Shane Mac (Part Two)

      🎖️ Special Guest:  Former US Navy Captain @ldavidmarquet (Part Two) 

       🗣️ Talking Points:

       - David’s new book “Leadership is Language” (out TODAY) 

      - Why leaders never say THEY and the WE/THEY boundary  

      - Why THINKING is  >>> than doing things FAST

      Follow David: @ldavidmarquet

      28 min
    • David Marquet with Shane Mac (Part One)

      🎖️ Special Guest:  Former US Navy Captain David Marquet (Part One)  

      🗣️ Talking Points:

       - David’s path to the Navy 

      - Internal versus external mindsets 

      - Why REAL leadership means giving others control


      Follow David: @ldavidmarquet

      35 min
    • Nir Eyal with Shane Mac
      "The number one cause of distraction is not what is happening outside of us, but in fact what happens inside of us. The root cause of most distraction is not the external triggers, it's the internal triggers. So, I don't care what life hack or guru does your tells you to do with how to hack back your time. Fundamentally, if we don't first and foremost figure out what we are trying to escape from, what uncomfortable sensation prompts us to look for relief—to look for a psychological pacification from our devices, from television, from too much booze, too much work, too much, whatever—then that becomes a distraction. If we don't deal with that stuff and either fix it or learn methods to cope with it, we are always going to succumb to distraction."
      46 min
    • Chase Jarvis with Shane Mac
      "What's ultimately at play here is the loudest voice, the strongest cultural narrative. That's where culture orients around risk or reward or safety. The hope that I have is that (people are) looking around for a little bit, pressing pause and saying, wait a minute. The things that used to be couched as safe are arguably now riskier than ever before. That's true for employment, relationships, identity, so many things. The thing that's going to overpower that is inside us. It's not out there. And that's the part to get people to lean into."
      1 hr 4 min
    • Tanya Khakbaz with Shane Mac
      In this interview with Tanya, we cover many topics from harnessing your passion to start a business, identifying “the magic” of your product that will lead to scale, and managing the work/life/parent balance, and the global shift towards a “skills-based” economy.
      49 min
    • Ashley Wellington-Fahey with Shane Mac
      how do you change the sports industry and follow your dream?
      Ashley is the CEO of The Relish, a new media sports company for female fans. She has an inspiring story and shares her love for sports, women in business and serving an underserved market: women sport's fans.
      Hope you enjoy.
      1 hr 28 min
    • Tammy McSimov with Shane Mac
      how do you love your work, be happy, and take care of yourself first?
      A conversation with my mom, Tammy. We discuss everything from work before computers, being a great leader, how to make sure you are happy before anything else and more.
      I hope you enjoy.
      45 min

    About ask

    From the publisher's feed

    Questions that matter. If we can make the world more curious, could everything be better?